Food Industry Donations

ImageEach year, billions of pounds of consumable food and grocery products are thrown away in food industry facilities. With 342,000 North Floridians struggling with hunger (117,000 of them are children), businesses help by donating items they may normally discard - including short-dated products, dented cans, surplus inventory or unspoiled leftovers. Donating to Second Harvest saves businesses real dollars through waste-disposal savings, tax benefits and inventory control. Plus, it’s convenient, safe and great for the environment.

ImageA private, non-profit organization, Second Harvest distributes more than 20 million pounds of food to more than 450 non-profit partner agencies in 17 north Florida counties. Our mission depends heavily on the passion of volunteers, the generosity of corporate and private contributors and food donors, and the hard work of our partner agencies.

Donation Facts

Second Harvest North Florida works with more than 400 local and national food manufacturers, retailers, distribution facilities, warehouse’s, reclamation centers and farmers to secure food and grocery items. See who

What to Donate

Second Harvest accepts anything from cases to truckloads of food and non-food items that include:

  • Dry-stored (nonperishable), perishable, refrigerated and frozen
  • Fruits and vegetables, meat products,  bakery items and prepared foods 
  • Raw ingredients, bulk products (grade outs), salvage product, reclamation products and unsellables 
  • Personal care, health and beauty items,  household cleaning and paper products 
  • Surplus and bulk inventory, unlabeled or mislabeled items, discontinued items and private-label brands
  • Basically anything you would find in a grocery store!

Tax Benefits of Donating

Second Harvest’s food donor partners are eligible for a number of tax benefits. In the 1976 Tax Reform Act, Congress refined statutes to allow corporate donors an increased deduction, under certain circumstances, for contributions of ordinary income property to a public charity or to a private operating foundation.

Liability Protection for Food Donors

At Second Harvest, safety is a priority. Our fleet of refrigerated trucks and food safety-trained staff protects your brand – adhering to the highest standards for product handling and inventory control, limited recall capabilities and liability protection.

In 1996, then-President Clinton signed the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act into federal law, to encourage donations of food and grocery products to non-profit organizations. This law:

  • Protects you from liability when you donate to a non-profit organization
  • Protects you from civil and criminal liability should the product donated in good faith later cause harm to the needy recipient 
  • Standardizes donor liability exposure 
  • Sets a floor of “gross negligence” or intentional misconduct for persons who donate grocery products.

Click here to view the Bill Emerson Good Samaratan Food Donation Act in its entirety.

Second Harvest follows GMA (Grocery Manufacturer Association) and FMI (Food Marketing Institute) guidelines.

Some of our food industry partners include:

Beaver Street Fisheries
Bimbo Bakery
BJ’s Wholesale
Blue Bell Creameries
Coca-Cola
Food Lion
Fresh Point
Frito Lay
Gatorade
Gustafson’s
Kraft Foods
Lipsey Logistics
Maxwell House
Native Sun
Pepsi
Pepperidge Farm
Publix
Quaker
Safe Harbor Seafood
Sam’s Club
Snyder Hanover
Society of St. Andrew
Sysco
Target
T.G. Lee
Tropicana
Unilever
Walmart
Whitewave
Whole Foods
Winn-Dixie

To find out more about how you can partner, please contact our director of food industry relations, Elliot Darkatsh, at 904.517.5554, or edarkatsh@wenourishhope.org.

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